The Melody I'm Looking For
by Takato.Hiroshima-1993
Summary: Story of Prince Eric before the events of The Little Mermaid. Part of the Tale of the Disney Princes series. Reviews welcome!


A/N: This will probably have some grammar mistakes, and I apologize. It's past midnight at time of uploading. I hope you enjoy this!

Disclaimer: I don't own Disney, Disney Princes, or Prince Eric. I also don't own mermaids.

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><p><strong>A Disney Princes Tale<strong>

**Prince Eric**

**"The Melody I'm Looking For"**

If you were to ask any Royal in all of Europe who least epitomizes the Royal persona, they'd all say 'Prince Eric'. There's a very good reason for that too. The reason is, I don't consider myself a Royal.

Sure I live in a pretty sweet castle by the sea. And yes my parents are a King and Queen, but we reside in a very small Kingdom. Besides, it's not like I was surrounded by all of the royal trappings while growing up. I spent my youth and teenage years on the sea. According to my father, since our Kingdom lives off the sea, whoever rules it must know it.

After my mother died when I was six, my father couldn't look at me. Whenever he saw me, he saw my mother. He told me that my hair was as jet-black as hers, and my eyes held her same gentle soul, but fierce determination. The first time he sent me away, he broke down in tears. He apologized for being so weak, but in order for him to continue I had to go. So I went.

I never held it against him. To be completely honest, seeing the man who was always so strong break down like that scared me to my very core. I swore right then to myself that I would do whatever it took to keep him strong. If that meant leaving, then so be it. My father's best friend, Grimsby, came with me as a manservant.

And so, from the age of eight to the age of fourteen, I was on the sea. I learned how to handle both a ship and a crew. I learned how to read the stars, omens, and the sea itself. While aboard the ship no one addressed me as 'Your Majesty', it was just Eric. After a while, I actually forgot I was Royalty. I'd become just a member of the crew.

Three months before my fifteenth birthday, my father died. A hurricane hit our coastal Capital. My father died while helping his people get to safety. The current swept him away. His body was found three days later.

As soon as the news reached us, our ship headed back. It took us a week. What awaited us was not a pretty sight. Clean-up was slow-going. Boats had been slammed into the coastline and buildings. There was nothing but wreckage along the coast and a few miles inland. What wasn't wrecked was submerged. Because of the wreckage, pockets had been formed where the water was trapped and couldn't recede. Food had spoiled in the cellars, possessions had been swept away, and way too many people had lost their lives. A couple of weeks later we learned that seventy-eight people had died.

Even though I was only fourteen, almost fifteen, I was technically the Ruler now. Grimsby helped me take charge. The first thing we did, was find dry homes for everyone who'd been displaced. Our ship went on up the coast to the next Kingdom to ask for help.

For the next few weeks, for the first time I felt true pride for my people. Without being asked, and even though they hadn't been affected, help and relief began arriving from throughout the Kingdom. The situation improved greatly after the majority of the wreckage was cleaned up, but it was still several months before the city was back to how it was before the storm.

For the first time in several years, I celebrated my birthday on dry land. I would have been happy for a small cake and celebration at the Castle (which surprisingly had sustained very little damage), but that wasn't allowed. My birthday became a grand celebration for the entire Kingdom.

During the festivities (that included two buffets of food, ongoing music and dances, games and donkey rides), this little old man stood up on a table, and gave a speech. In this speech, he revealed that he was a hundred and seven years old. He told everyone that in all those years, he'd seen Rulers come and go. He'd seen many a disaster strike, and he saw how it was handled. He said that in all his years, this had been the worst disaster he'd ever seen, but it was the greatest recovery he'd experienced. He recounted how before, Rulers wishing to prove themselves had gotten in the way of those who had more experience. He recounted how a Rulers pride got in the way of providing for his people. He recounted how he'd never seen a King trudge through five foot high water in the middle of a hurricane so that he could get the person he was carrying to safety. This little old man, who was a hundred and seven years old, and had lived in practically every Kingdom in Europe at one point or another, said he'd never been so proud of his fellow countrymen, or its rulers.

It was during that speech that I figured out what kind of King I wanted to be. Even though I wouldn't officially take the throne till I was eighteen, it was a question I'd been asked since I was a boy. Before, I'd only ever said a good one. Now, now I wanted to be a King who'd think nothing of trudging through five foot high water in the middle of a hurricane so that someone else could get to safety. I wanted to be a King who wasn't afraid to admit when I didn't know something, and be able to ask for help. I didn't want to be a King who let my pride get in the way of doing what needed to be done.

Just like on the ship that I'd been raised, I knew that unless the Ruler and the citizens worked together, our Kingdom could never prosper.

The old man finished his speech with an explanation for why my birthday was being celebrated so heavily. He said, "Never before had there been a moment where you could see the future so clearly. This kid, this barely pubescent boy who'd spent his youth out on the open sea, came home to disaster. Came home an orphan. The moment his ship came into view, I heard several people groan. I heard several people complain that this kid was going to do nothing but get in the way, and attempt to be a King.

Instead, from the very first moment he stepped off that ship and onto the land he was born to, he did everything but get in the way. Not once did he pull rank on anyone trying to help. He listened, he consulted, and he trusted. Because of him, and the example that he set, this place was rebuilt in record time. So now, on his fifteenth birthday, we're celebrating not only that he's survived another year, but that we've all survived another year. We're not rejoicing and wishing about the future for his sake, but for the entire Kingdom. We're celebrating a future we haven't yet experienced, but we know will come to pass."

My father told me when I was little, one of the very first things I remember him telling me, is that I don't live my life for me. I live my life for everyone around me, and it wasn't until that little old man finished speaking that I understood what my father was saying. I was living my life for the future of my Kingdom, and every decision that I'd make in the future, would impact my people.

Fast-forward a few years, and now my eighteenth birthday is right on the horizon. Soon I will truly be a King, and unfortunately one of the most pressing issues I'll have to deal with securing a bride in order to produce an heir. Since my sixteenth birthday, not so subtle hints had been dropped by Grimsby. Princesses sailing past our Kingdom would suddenly be overcome with the desire to tour our small town. I was required to attend at least five balls a year, and to host at least two.

Once I courted a Princess from Glowerhaven, but it didn't feel right. I felt like I had to act like a King around her. From what I remembered of my parent's marriage, both of them were at complete ease around each other. I remembered nights where my mother would be sitting on the couch reading a book, and my father would be dozing with his head in her lap. It was my favorite memory because my mother had been gently stoking my father's hair as well, only stopping whenever she had to turn a page. They'd both been so at ease and comfortable in each other's presence. That was what I was looking for.

The night before my birthday, I sat on my balcony staring out at the sea. I held my flute loosely in my hand, but I didn't play it. I'd learned how to play the flute while out at sea. My favorite thing to do was to sit near the front of the ship and play my flute under the moon. The experience seemed so magical, and unearthly. Whenever I did, I also remembered my mother's tales.

Every night when I was a child, my mother would tell me stories about the people who lived under the sea. Mermaids. She told me stories of how they would save sailors from drowning and return them to their families. She also told me stories, of how their voices were so beautiful, they could lure men to their deaths in the sea. Those stories were usually quickly followed by other stories about how they could also lure those men away from danger. I asked her once whether she'd seen a mermaid before, and with a faraway smile, she told me she had.

She'd been only a girl. It was on her very first voyage to meet my father here for the first time. She'd been unable to sleep, so she'd wandered out on deck, and had sat near the bow, and just looked up at the moon. After a while, she remembered hearing a voice coming out over the water. It was just on the edge of her hearing, but it was enchanting. She felt herself falling into a lull, as if a spell was being cast over her. Suddenly the ship lurched to side, and she was thrown overboard.

She recounted how time slowed down as she fell. How she recalled looking up, and watching the moon grow farther and farther away. Her breath had disappeared as she hit the cold water. Her mouth opened in an involuntary shudder, and her lungs filled with water. She was paralyzed by the cold, and she felt sleepy. Her eyes began to flutter, and she remembered thinking, 'Now I'll never see his face'.

As if in a dream, mom told me how she saw this shape coming towards her. By the way it moved, mom thought it was a fish, looking to see what had invaded its home. As it came closer though, she saw that it was a woman, a woman with a tail. She had brilliant red hair, and a tail that glittered in the moonlight streaming through the water. Without stopping, the woman had grabbed my mother and hauled her towards the surface.

The moment air touched her face, my mother began coughing violently. The woman thumped her back and helped her get the remaining water from her lungs. Once she could breathe again, my mother saw that the woman had brought her back to her ship. The woman helped my mother grab onto a rope ladder that had been thrown from above. The two of them were in the ship's shadow, so they men above couldn't see the sight below. All they'd heard was the coughing. Once my mother was firmly on the ladder, she thanked the woman who'd saved her life. The woman smiled, nodded, and dipped back under the water without a sound. Looking up at the horizon, my mother saw a crag of rocks that were hidden because of the night. If they hadn't swerved suddenly like they had, the ship would have hit the rocks and sunk.

For years after, I searched the seas, looking for my own mermaid. I wanted to hear the same enchanting music that my mother described to me with such wonder and longing. I never became obsessed with the idea of mermaids, but I played my flute for them hoping they'd join in.

Back on the balcony, I looked out that water, and made a wish. I wished that tomorrow I would hear the music I'd been longing for. Once I became King, I wouldn't be going out on the sea as much as I was used to. I'd be stuck on land dealing with the politics of running a Kingdom. Max, my sheepdog, came and joined me on the balcony. He'd been a gift from one of the families affected by the hurricane. With his nose he gently nudged the still flute in my hand. One of his favorite things was to listen to me play my flute. With a rub on his head, I complied.

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><p>AN: So there you go, the story of Prince Eric. Please let me know what you think, and what you'd like to see for future tales in a review! Flames are always appreciated as well.


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